The Latest Rumors from the Winter Meetings

As the Winter Meetings continue in Orlando, Florida this week, rumors are afloat as for who will sign with whom. There are the veterans that have been with the same team for their whole career, the yougens who are just trying to find some playing time, and then the guys in the middle who just keep on rotating teams. But what do all of these players do when they are free agents and have no idea where they're going to end up?

A free agent is a player that doesn't have a contract with any particular team, come the end of the season; therefore they are able to sign with any franchise they choose. According to ESPN's MLB Rumors, the following free agents are just a few examples of the players causing a buzz in Orlando.

• Carlos Pena- Tampa Bay Rays- First Baseman- Trade
• Signed with the Chicago Cubs
• The Washington Nationals are out of a first base option now that Pena signed with the Cubs- Depth Chart
• Carlos Beltran- Mets- Center Fielder- Trade
• The Red Sox are no longer interested in the nine year veteran
• Dustin Moseley- Yankees- Right Handed Pitcher- Free Agency
• Signed a deal with the San Diego Padres
• CC Sabathia- New York Yankees- Left Handed Pitcher- Money
• Sabathia will be staying with the Yankees for this coming season
• Michael Young- Texas Rangers-Third Baseman- Trade
• The Colorado Rockies could possibly be interested in Young
• Vladimir Guerrero- Texas Rangers- Designated Hitter- Free Agency
• ESPN reports that "The Rangers turned down Guerrero's option but would like to retain his services." However, he stated that he would be willing to go to Oakland (the A's)
• Albert Pujols- St. Louis Cardinals- First Baseman- Money
• The two parties will talk about salary at the Winter Meetings but the Cardinals might have to pass
• Carl Pavano- Minnesota Twins- Right Handed Pitcher- Free Agency
• Supposedly, Pavano might stay in with the Twins
• Paul Konerko- Chicago White Sox- First Baseman- Free Agency
• Konerko will return to the Windy City this coming season to play with the White Sox
• Dan Uggla- Atlanta Braves
• Uggla will be in Atlanta this season
• Carl Crawford- Tampa Bay Rays
• The Los Angeles Angels are supposedly still interesting in acquiring Crawford
• Cliff Lee- Texas Rangers
• Lee has made no commitments yet and the possible hold up could be the discussion of how long his contract will be for

What would the St. Louis Cardinals be without their star, award-winning (slightly overrated) first baseman Albert Pujols? If you said, "They would be a completely different team." Then I would have to say you are correct! Let’s just take a moment to imagine that... It's hard to do, right? But personally, as someone who isn't the biggest fan of Pujols, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing. For the last nine years, Pujols has played only with the Cardinals, and while that is how it used to be in baseball, it's not like that anymore. Players rotate teams quite regularly now, maybe even too often for some. But Pujols needs to be taken out of his comfort zone and learn how to play with new management, players, and coaches and see if he can still be considered the best player in baseball after that. (Plus, I wouldn’t mind seeing what the Cubs can do against the Cards without Pujols in line-up.)